Why Trump is a PR Nightmare

Political views aside – as that’s what I’m not here to talk about – whatever your opinions are on the current 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump are. I think one thing we can all agree on is that he is literally a PR’s worst nightmare.

But first off, lets talk about how he wasn’t always the product of PR’s bad dreams. This man, political views aside, has to be admired for his ability to raise his status from a simple successful business man to the actual president of the United States. The way he used his position to tell the American population (seemingly) what they wanted to hear landed him as one of the most important people in our modern day world. At one point, I could do nothing but admire his prolific efforts, now, however, i’m not too sure.

Why is Trump a PR nightmare?

With rabid tweeting and public outcries – one is left to wonder. Is there a PR in the world who can keep this man under control?

Of course, I’m all for freedom of speech and Twitter is famed for its ability to allow one to express whatever they wish. However lines must be drawn and sometimes I wonder whether Trump ought to step back from the screen and think ‘I am the president, should I really be tweeting this?’ before hitting send on yet another 280-character-outburst ready to be showcased to the world.

From a free world point of view, he’s a perfect exemplar of how to exercise your right to speak freely, however from a PR and Crisis Management point of view, he’s a living breathing, walking nightmare and this is why:

There are consequences to your actions

And I think this is something President Trump seems to fail to understand. Or maybe he does, and he just doesn’t care. Either way, a social backlash on top of all the other presidential worries is something he’d probably do best to avoid and therefore, the carefree thinking ought to (and really really really needs to) be halted.

Ordinarily, a significant high-up individual would have an external employee who handles their social communications, yet in a recent interview with Piers Morgan Trump unearthed that he writes them himself from his mobile. This is seriously alarming from arguably one of the more important people in the world – the ability to tweet freely without any prior proofing is a dangerous game indeed and is just one of the reasons Trump is a PR nightmare.

It’s damaging to his presidential ‘brand’ and his status and is bound to make PRs all over the world squirm.

It’s hard to come back from public outcries and scandals

It’s common knowledge amongst PR professionals (and the rest of the world really) that when you say something and the press gets hold of it – it sticks around.

And therein provides another reason why Trump is a PR nightmare, because he perhaps doesn’t realise that anything he says in public (literally ever) can always be used against him (and more than likely, always will).

Anything even closely relating to anything bad that Trump has ever said can always be written about and then related back to the President, as ultimately this is what attracts the readers. It is incredibly damaging to the president and his brand however, and will always generate and stipulate constant anger and hate – not really what you want as the leader of one of the biggest continents in the world.

And what happens when PR gets it right?

Fear not however, sometimes it’s evident that the president has took a step back and allowed someone else to take the PR reigns.

In an enlightening interview with Piers Morgan, the President portrayed himself in a new found matter, spoke and acted sensibly, responsibly and made no comments that could be really misconstrued (I mean, journalists attempted, but don’t they always).

The result? Journalists had nothing really palpable to say, opposers had nothing to tweet and everything was calm. In fact, I don’t doubt that the interview changed a few views of the President all together.

A heavy PR influence and control was so apparent to those who were looking for it, however I’d never disapprove of this level of controlled PR for someone who so clearly needs it.

I don’t think the beige-toned interview did usual hard-headed, fiery Piers Morgan any favours, but that’s another story. For now let’s just be glad the President articulated himself well in our country, and lets hope to see such manners continue…

Published by Jessica Pardoe

I am a first class, Business & PR graduate. I now work at Tecmark in Manchester as a Digital PR and Outreach executive. This is my blog where I write about all things PR and Lifestyle - thanks for sticking around to read it!
View all posts by Jessica Pardoe

About my blog… and myself

A quick hello

Hiya! My name’s Jessica Pardoe and this is my personal PR & lifestyle blog. I’m a 21 year old, first class graduate of Public Relations; now working as a Digital PR & Outreach Executive at Tecmark in Manchester. I also dabble with SEO and am a keen content writer and creator.